Silly front brake question

[Simon59]

I’m confused! It’s probably a daft question, but can one of you more experienced folk give me some advice? I’m trying to fit the front brake cable to the rebuilt front wheel of my 1954 A10 plunger. The cable (from Draganfly) can screw into both the lug on the bottom of the fork leg as well as the brake cover plate ‘fulcrum and adjusting pin’ – the threads are the same. This make me think that the cable should go through both, but they are not in line. I’ve looked at photos of other bikes and tried to route the cable correctly. My questions are; does the cable go through both holes? Does the pin on the cover plate screw out to align with the lug on the front fork? I assume that the brake operating lever should be 90 degrees (or more) to the cable, but the cable I have is too short when fitted into either bracket… (I have re-chromed my ‘standard’ handlebar lever by the way, which hasn’t got any cable adjuster in it). Help please? Here’s a photo which hopefully shows what I’m gibbering about.

[beezermacc]

Sadly, I think you have the incorrect RHS fork slider. The slider fitted to your bike should not have a welded-on cable lug and looks as though it is for an earlier A7 longstroke or B31. Your front brake looks correct for your bike. It is possible to simply grind off the lug but you will obviously need to repaint the slider afterwards.

[Swarfcut]

Simon...At first look that leg does not look familiar, and either it is the wrong leg or the correct leg with a cable lug added. The weld does not look to a factory "doing it everyday" standard Got a feeling that for your year the leg has front and rear mudguard stay lugs and a brazed or welded on mudguard bridge/torque arm mounting.

 That's all, and the cable goes straight to the brake backplate fulcrum  pin, and on to the brake arm. Fit the arm so that when adjusted, and the brake applied, it approaches the magic 90 degrees, but does not pass over 90. The position of the squared cutouts on the arm can be changed by turning the arm over, to get the best compromise for brake adjustment.

 Lots of plungers on the Forum, so you may even get a pic of a correct layout.

Whoops, BM got the answer while I was doing my post, so we both think that's the problem.

Swarfy.

[RichardL]

Simon,

I'm no expert on plungers (other than for the loo) but the pictures I looked at make me think that your fork leg is not A10 (rigid,  plunger or SA).

Someone will now step in to tell us that four racing machines made on November 8, 1953 used that fork leg to provide better cable stability.

Richard L.

Clearly, my thumb typing is too slow to be other than third voice.

[beezermacc]

Yes, looking more closely at the picture, I can see the hollow recess behind the cable lug which is for the 'button' type brake plate stop as fitted to all the 7" single sided brakes. Easiest solution is grind it off and repaint that slider. Unless there is heat involved in the paint finish you don't need to dismantle the whole fork leg, just mask off at the seal holder. Obviously the leg will have to be removed.

[AdrianJ]

I have exactly the same situation. There is an earlier  post from me with some useful replies (it may be on the bsaoc forum though). The upshot is that no one thinks it’s an A10 leg. I’m using the fork fitting as you are.
Adrian

[Greybeard]

Yup Si, that lug is non standard. As a quick fix, what about removing enough of it to clear the cable and touch up the raw end with paint. Next time you have the forks dismantled remove the rest of it.

[RichardL]

Photo of a photo of a B40 brake setup

Came out better than I expected.

Richard L.

[Greybeard]

So, it is standard then, but not on your bike

[Simon59]

Thanks guys. I didn't think that one fork leg could be from another model - but now that I do, I will probably cut the lug off so that it doesn't interfere with the cable run or change it for an 'original' part...   

[AdrianJ]

Yep - I'll do the same.

[Swarfcut]

Don't rework original parts, except as a last resort. Someone, somewhere is struggling to find a B40 leg, and no doubt in a dusty shed somewhere a BSA A10 plunger fork leg is looking for a new lease of life. Like they say, they don't make them like that any more. While a straight swap is unlikely, the chances of getting what you want are pretty good thanks to the unholy twins, eBay and PayPal.

Swarfy.

[muskrat]

G'day Simon.
It's definitely a fork leg off an early A7 plunger. As Swarfy said it would be a pity to modify it, there pretty thin on the ground and could save someone else.
Try to find the correct leg.
67-5050 Fork leg, RH 1 A10/ST Plunger 1950-57
Cheers

[Rex]

During the rebuild of my plunger A7 I had to do the same thing but in reverse. The lug on the fork slider had been sawn off for reasons unknown and the brake cable stop was a piece of flimsy steel strip.
Didn't take long to fabricate and weld on a new stop, but the other option would have been to turn up a stop resembling the later 8" brake arrangement.

[RichardL]

G'day Simon.
It's definitely a fork leg off an early A7 plunger. As Swarfy said it would be a pity to modify it, there pretty thin on the ground and could save someone else.
Try to find the correct leg.
67-5050 Fork leg, RH 1 A10/ST Plunger 1950-57
Cheers

Musky,

I don't understand why you say it is definitely from an early A7. I looked at lot of pictures of A10s and A7s and didn't see any such fork leg until I looked at a recent Classic Bike magazine that had a special article about BSA singles. Not saying I didn't miss something, but I looked back as far as rigids.

Richard L.